What we believe about baptism really matters because baptism publicly proclaims our identification with Jesus and with His community the church...

This week, we have been looking at when we believe at the church where I serve about baptism. We looked at the reality that when we see baptisms occurring in the Bible, we discover that baptism is an outward act that serves to publicly identify one as being a follower of Jesus.  A person who is being baptized is publicly proclaiming “I am a follower of Jesus who desires to be a part of a community of believers who will encourage me and hold me accountable”. We talked about the reality that baptism is a step that occurs after a person becomes a follower of Jesus as a way of identifying with Jesus as His follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.

We then examined the question as to whether or not a person has to be baptized to be saved and experience a relationship with Jesus. We looked at the baptism of Jesus by John that Baptizer and discovered  that Jesus baptism was Jesus way of identifying Himself with us so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful life so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

You see, baptism is not about salvation; baptism is about identification. And just as we discussed last week with communion, baptism visibly and tangibly expresses the gospel.  Baptism is not something we do to be saved; baptism is something we do because we have been saved in obedience to Jesus command. This is what is meant by the statement in our doctrinal statement “Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.”

And in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Romans, we see the Apostle Paul unpack how baptism visibly and tangibly expresses the gospel. So let’s look at that section together, beginning in Romans 6:3-4:

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

In these verses, we see the Apostle Paul reveal the reality that baptism is a word picture of the new life that we have with Jesus. By baptism, a person is identifying themselves with Jesus, who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our selfish rebellion, was buried in a tomb, and was raised back to life never to die again as a result of the transformational power of the Holy Spirit.

And in the same way, when we become followers of Jesus and follow the Lord in baptism, we are publicly proclaiming that we are identifying ourselves with Jesus as our Lord and Leader and that we are turning our back on, or dying to, selfishness, sin, and rebellion and choosing to identify and live in a life that pursues Jesus and a life that looks like Jesus.

Baptism illustrates Jesus burial and resurrection and illustrates our new life as a follower of Jesus as a result of placing our confident trust in what Jesus has done to rescue us from our selfishness and rebellion by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And while baptism is not a means of additional grace or salvation, which is by faith in Christ alone, baptism encourages followers of Jesus and promotes spiritual growth in followers of Jesus. Celebrating baptism in community is also a way to celebrate God’s activity throughout history and in the lives of people today.

Now this leads us back to the question that will run throughout this series, which is “Dave does what we believe about baptism really matter?” And the answer to that question leads us to a timeless truth about why it really matters. And that timeless truth is this: What we believe about baptism really matters because baptism publicly proclaims our identification with Jesus and with His community the church.

You see, what we believe about baptism really matters because when we celebrate baptism in community with one another, we are publicly proclaiming our identification with Jesus who came to earth to live the life that we were created to live but refused to live and die the death that we deserved to die so that we would have the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for.

And what we believe about baptism really matters because baptism provides us the opportunity to publicly identify ourselves with the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus as a part of the community called the church that will encourage and hold one another accountable to live in the relationship with God and one another that we were created for?

So if you are a follower of Jesus and have not been baptized, here is my question: Why have you not been baptized? Because Baptism was not a suggestion by Jesus; Instead baptism was a command by Jesus.

So what is keeping you from being baptized? Because what we believe about baptism really matters because baptism publicly proclaims our identification with Jesus and with His community the church.